All the time. Even the smallest, silliest things. I have a box of stuff I managed to get socked away to send to Book Samaritan, and I'm fighting with myself about not looking through the box one. last. time. before I manage to send it! Can someone link the Waldo homeschool wish list? I'd love to see if I can send anything.

I'll second what the others have said (except for the worm--OMW :svengo:). It took me a little while to get used to handling a whole chicken and not feeling weird, but now it's a snap. I love this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roast-sticky-chicken-rotisserie-style/detail.aspx The spice blend is incredible--DH and the kids raved the last time I made it that way. If I don't have time for all of that, I just use olive oil and Adobo seasoning or salt and pepper. And Strider mentioned cutting the chicken and laying it flat--that makes life SO much easier around here. I often forget to start the chicken in time if it's whole, and doing it that way gets the chicken roasted in 45 minutes. Here is a great description and some links to video tutorials. I don't make the mushroom stuffing (didn't love it when I made it the one time), but I follow her instructions otherwise. The next day you can use what's left to make chicken stock or, if there's enough meat left, chicken soup. I definitely recommend getting comfortable with whole chickens. They're much more economical than parts.

YES. :D

Our library definitely doesn't have anything to lend, unfortunately. We have a local museum, but I don't think they have anything either. We take art classes there, so I'll be sure to ask. I asked tonight when we picked up the our test print (a Degas ballet class), and they said yes, you do have to be a member :( I highly recommend Costco in general though, so it might be worth the membership anyway. For anyone who was wondering, the print (photo? not sure what to call it!) is lovely, very crisp, with very true colors, and nicely done. DD6 is eager to have it framed in her room already, and DD9 surprised me by naming the artist right away :hurray: The online process is very simple. The only hitch is that they don't scale the image of the painting to fit the size you choose--you have to choose a size and then play with the orientation/cropping to get as much of your painting in there as possible. You may have to opt for a different set of dimensions than you originally wanted (and possibly a different price), depending on the dimensions of the painting you want. I lost a smidge at the top and bottom of my picture but no detail, so it won't affect it for study purposes. It was $2.99 for a 12 x 12 print. I could have gotten an 8 x 8 for $1.49 and still fit as much of the painting in it. Thanks again for all the input, everyone! You really helped me think through what my plan will be for the coming year.

You know, as I was cleaning out the bookshelf yesterday, I came across a big one on the Impressionists that I'd forgotten I'd bought at a yard sale in the spring. I also found one on European paintings I'd bought at the Metropolitan as well. If I can just pick up one or two more from different genres/eras, I should be well set. Thanks for the idea about the used bookstores!

I don't know, because I am a member, so I just put my number in when I registered and they asked for it. I looked on the site but didn't see anything. There's an option for mailing the prints to you, so maybe? I know BJ's allows you to order from their site if you're not a member--you just pay a surcharge. The best thing to do would probably be to email them and ask.

OK, that Costco site is a huge win--I didn't even know they did photos and prints! That is pretty much exactly what I need, just the right balance between quality and economy :D I have also seen the SCM portfolios, and really, they're exactly what I'm looking for, but like ScoutTN, I wish they offered a wider selection of artists. I will probably buy one or two from them, but I'm looking for a broader representation of eras and styles. The Costco option will get me part of the way there, and then I can maybe frame them afterward to use around the house too. Thank you all so much! I'm well on my way to planning our artist study for the coming year!

There were a couple of great suggestions in this thread, but it looks like one doesn't make them anymore, and the other, while a great concept, is smaller than I'd like the pictures to be. I'd love to have 8x10 sized prints, if possible. Does anyone happen to know where I could buy something like this? I did some Googling but couldn't come up with anything. TIA!

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted on this thread. I was using Google's advanced search feature to look for ways people are implementing artist/composer study, and I came upon this thread, which I posted just about a year ago when I was stressing about the same thing :lol: And I never said thanks then, so I'm saying it now. I appreciate all the great ideas! This year we might actually have the budget for the Masterpiece cards, which I totally love. And I'm a member at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so the next time we go in, I'm going to grab that calendar. Off to research! :auto:

Hmmm, so homosexual teens get what they deserve is what you're trying to say, then?

Ha, seriously! Now I have to go see how far we can push the sour cream...

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the input. I discovered after posting that DD6 had helped herself to a bowl of the beans and broth, so I guess we'll know soon enough, huh? :001_huh: Anyway, the onions and garlic are sizzling up right now. Wish you were all here so we could share our black bean soup with you :D

I turned off the crockpot last night at 1 a.m. (they were simmering pretty well at that point) but wanted to wait until the crock cooled a bit to transfer them and put them in the fridge. Then I fell asleep on the couch :( So here I am at noon with black beans that have been sitting out. The house was at 78 (or lower) all night. Would you eat them? I was going to make some into black bean soup today and freeze some for next week. Would you do either? TIA!

Thank you all so much for the ideas, and Tracy, thank you for that great list! I remember trying to find books when I got GtG years ago, and I couldn't find books for half those countries. You did an amazing job! Now I have some research to do to narrow down my plans :D

I'm :bigear: too. We've been in such a food rut lately! You can also soak steel cut oats overnight and then finish cooking them in the morning--it makes the cooking time much shorter. Steel cut oats take longer to digest, which is probably why there's such a big difference in attention span after. Soaking them is also supposed to make them more nutritious (can't recall why though!).

Kind of a random place to respond (it's the link that came up in my search), but I wanted to say thanks again for sharing these, Dawn.

We did Evan Moor geography this year, and it was just what I was looking for--latitude, longitude, map skills, etc. Now I'd like to find something that is a light overview of countries and cultures, something that is easy to slot into our days like the Evan Moor was. It doesn't have to be workbook based (though that works fine too), but I don't want to spend weeks on every country, dressing up and cooking the food, IYKWIM? I just want to focus a bit on the basics for now and have something to give us some familiarity. Does something light like that exist? I have Galloping the Globe, and it's not exactly what I was looking for. I would love to hear some other suggestions if anyone has some. TIA!

Do you drop your kids off and leave, or do you stay? Does your co-op expect a certain amount of work from your family, and if they do, do your older kids do the work or do the parents? I'm part of the board of a small enrichment co-op, and we're just starting to face some of these issues. Until now, it's been geared toward younger kids, but we have a bunch of olders coming on board now, and we need to make some decisions about this. It's only once a week for four hours, but some people have asked about dropping off, and we're not sure how we want to handle that. Anyway, if you could talk to me about how your co-op handled it and whether you think whatever they did worked, I'd appreciate it. TIA!

I was thinking along the same lines, wondering how old their kids when that discussion was being had. I think the kind of teenager that lifestyle produces might make me wonder where I went wrong fairly often!

I was looking through Singpore CWP 3 today (we're running a level behind because we switched over from RS at the beginning of the year), and I came across this problem: The sum of A and B is 4215 greater than C. C is 1833 less than A. What is B? I COULD NOT figure out how to solve it! (I also find it kind of hard to believe this is in a 3rd/4th grade-level book, but I may have missed teaching the skills needed to solve it since we were in RS up until 6 months ago. Can most 9-year-olds solve that problem?) Anyway, I messed around with it until I back-doored myself into the answer, and then I sort of remembered why solving the problem worked that way. But it made me realize that I need a basic algebra refresher. How would I go about getting that kind of knowledge so I can help DD learn it? Was that kind of thing taught in 1A/1B or 2A/2B? Do I just have to buy the next two levels ahead and go through them myself now (or maybe three levels? when is that explicitly taught in Singapore PM?)? Or is there some quicker, more efficient way of relearning some algebra concepts? We weren't even close to that sort of thing yet in RS, so I'm kind of thrown for a loop, but I do want to keep including problems from CWP in our weekly work. TIA!

You may think you were clear in this when you spoke to her, but this is not what many of us are seeing in your posts. Again, this-- --doesn't sound like someone who contacted her because you care about her. It sounds like you care about getting your objectives met. Maybe, while you think you were clear about wanting to connect because you care, she was hearing the undertone that many of us keep saying we are hearing?

:lol: That's what I tell my DH every time the kids figure something out on their own and he's impressed. Benevolent neglect at its finest!

Gently, because I have no dog in this fight: Tammy, from what you've posted here, it doesn't sound to me like you're interested in getting a friendship back on track. It sounds like you're primarily interested in demanding answers from this person. These are some clues, IMO, to your real goal in making this reconnection with her: She didn't expect you to keep being there. She dropped out and you called her. She's an adult. If I were her, whether I'd behaved badly or not, I would not be interested in being called on the carpet. That's my prerogative. Again, she did not call you, asking you to please include her in your life again. She does not care whether or not you trust her. You called her. As someone said, your demand included the ultimatum that ended the friendship. She is simply asserting herself to meet her own needs. Self-care? Maybe. Selfish? Maybe. But she owes you nothing and is expecting nothing from you except that you respect the boundary she's set. You're expecting her to provide with someone you've decided is necessary for your own peace of mind. I don't think you're the bad guy here. I don't know if she's the bad guy. But you did ask our opinions based on the information you gave us, and the overwhelming opinion is that you're overstepping, and that you can't force her to give you what you want if she doesn't care to. I'm sorry, it does stink. We're involved in a co-op currently, and I can see the potential for disaster. I'd be very sad if things ended the way yours did :( I hope you can find some kind of peace about the whole thing.

To be fair, I did think the same thing. I wouldn't leave the trash until after school myself, especially if it was blowing around and attracting bears, but I'd probably be finding something else for him to do :lol:

:lol: Yeah, conflicting messages. I just know what I see in the parenting around me on a daily basis, and frankly, it scares me (and drives me :willy_nilly:).